


Memory Past and Pursued

by pansexualfandommess (redvelvetrose), SincereJester



Series: Rise of Ben Solo [7]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Kyber Crystals, Lightsabers, Oral Sex, Redeemed Ben Solo, Soft Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:08:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23251477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redvelvetrose/pseuds/pansexualfandommess, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SincereJester/pseuds/SincereJester
Summary: Ben and Rey finally arrive on Tatooine and set about investigating the former abode of Obi-Wan Kenobi/Old Ben. Also Ben cooks for Rey and they establish that, for her, nutrition can be a decent source of foreplay.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Rise of Ben Solo [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586332
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Memory Past and Pursued

"Never thought I'd miss my calligraphy set," Ben mused. Several of the sacred Jedi texts lay open in a half circle around him as he scanned back and forth over the weathered pages. To pass the time on their approach to Tatooine, he had spread the ancient tomes out to examine their cryptic contents.

"Calligraphy?" Rey repeated the word, not certain she'd ever heard the term before. She sat on the floor opposite him, similarly surrounded by the other half of the books. "Dare I ask what kind of an ancient Jedi art that is?" 

Ben threw her a look. "Writing," he clarified. "A skill at scribbling using various mediums. Sometimes it's refined enough to be an artform, I suppose. I had a pen and ink set on as a padawan; used to take notes on these, then. Among other artifacts." 

"I didn't see any new writing on the books," she said, turning a few pages as though Ben's long-ago notes would suddenly turn up. "Granted, I can barely read the original text and I'm not sure if it's because it's hand-drawn or because this isn't actually Aurebesh. 

"We wouldn't write on the texts," Ben exclaimed. "I'd record notes on scraps or in a journal. Wish I had them now." 

"Oh... so you were making another text like these," she said, reasoning that notes would be compiled into another book. 

"More like annotations but in a separate book. Only Master Luke would insert his notes into the books themselves." Ben pointed to some of the translucent bits of parchment and paper stuck into one of the volumes. "Those are his. There are centuries of additions from other Jedi in there, too. They're almost scrapbooks at this point." 

"I'm not sure why they didn't just use one of those holocron things. Wouldn't that have been easier? Not to mention more secure." she wondered, turning another page. 

Ben laughed. "Some of these texts pre-date that technology by hundreds, if not thousands, of years!" 

Rey drew her hands back. "Really? I mean... I knew they were old, but that's way older than I thought. I mean that tech has been around... well... forever?" Rey was not a student of history, by any means. The idea that there was a time before computers and droids and such? Entirely foreign. Yes, of course she knew there must have been such a time. But the idea that she was holding and swearing at things that were older than recorded time was a bit alarming. 

Ben nodded solemnly. "These are probably some of the oldest relics of civilization in the galaxy," he remarked, lifting one of the books in his hands. 

"I feel like I should be wearing gloves or something now," she shook her head, turning a page with much more care than before. "You know, I've been looking through these for nearly a year... but I haven't really seen much about this... this... dyad thing... between you and me." 

"Probably because that's more based in Sith legend than Jedi myth," Ben said. "I'm surprised Beaumont Kin didn't discuss some of this with you, although admittedly there wasn't much time before we left." "I wouldn't have known what to tell him. It's still so... strange... to me. I mean, not in a bad way. But..." she sighed and shook her head. "I was so isolated for so long. And this is... an incredibly intimate thing between you and me. To go from not speaking to anyone but myself for months at a time to having someone know my feelings almost before I do... it makes my head spin still." 

"Yeah, me, too," Ben answered quietly. It was strange and new, but he had never felt alone. Lonely, yes - so lonely for so long! But he had never been alone; he had always been aware of the presence of others in the Force. For a long time, he had felt a part missing; an emptiness, like something he had lost, not realizing it was Rey and their unique connection. 

"But you say it's based in Sith legend?" she asked, biting her lip. "I don't know much about the Sith... other than they were opposite to the Jedi." 

"There's no reason you would know about the Sith," Ben observed. "They were a pretty secretive group from the start, and The Republic went out of its way to suppress any reference to the Sith empires. Even the Jedi didn't know much about them; they rarely studied about the Sith in depth, since they were supposedly defeated centuries ago. There were Sith worshippers; dark side cultists, sure... but true Sith? By their own belief, there's only ever two true Sith. That's how it connects to the concept of a Force dyad, come to think of it." 

"Only ever two?" she frowned. "That... doesn't sound like a very effective way to take over the galaxy. In one of these, it does say that the Sith Empire is vast and has no fewer than several thousand full Sith Lords. I am assuming in this case that 'lord' is the equivalent to a Jedi master." She looked up. "What does 'darth' mean? Your grandfather was Darth Vader. Mine was Darth Sidious. So, what's a darth?" 

"It's a title given to the lords of the Sith Order; it roughly translates to 'Dark Lord'," Ben explained. "When the Sith Order was first founded, they were simply a parallel to the Jedi Order: each Order was dedicated to the Force; Jedi to the Light Side and Sith to the Dark Side. Before that, the Jedi Order was very different than what we were taught: it emphasized a more harmonious philosophy, balanced between the Living Force and the Cosmic Force." 

"The... Cosmic Force?" Rey frowned again. "Luke mentioned the Living Force a few times. I meant to ask him why but I didn't get the chance." 

Ben smiled. "There was a time when the Jedi were more mystic about the Force than later on. I assume you were told about the Force being created by all living things? That's the Living Force, and the part that can actively be used by a Force wielder. That's the 'Jedi mind tricks' part. But the Jedi believed there was another part: The Cosmic Force, the part that binds the galaxy together and connects all life to each other; that's the part that speaks to the Jedi and dictates their destinies; a more passive role. The Jedi path was learning to balance the two, until there was a schism in the Jedi Order, resulting in the creation of the Sith Order." 

"What was the schism about? Seems a bit odd to have such a severe falling out over a difference in philosophies." she shifted closer to him. "What did the Sith actually believe?" 

"Up until that point, the Jedi were all about balance: following their destinies as Force sensitives via the Cosmic Force and using their abilities to exist in harmony with the Living Force that surrounds all life. This demanded a certain amount of selflessness and passivity; a lot of time was spent in meditation and contemplation. A group of Force-users decided that it was more desirable to control and conquer the Force rather than submit to its will, and began to actively pursue that goal. Emotions were a very potent tool in this goal; they centered the focus of the Sith's power and allowed them to dominate other living beings. The extremes became known as the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force, and completely altered the fundamental philosophy of the Jedi Order ever since." 

"Passivity," Rey echoed. "For a group that insisted they were peacekeepers, they fought a lot." She sighed and sat back. "I've never been much for philosophies and dogmas and shit like that. Hell, I glazed over the second anyone from the Church of the Force tried to talk to me." 

Ben shook his head. "My father used to feel the same way, but the Force - and the truth of its existence - was undeniable." He continued, "There was no conflict to the Jedi of old to fight against the Sith; they weren't pacifists. Life is a cycle, and death is part of that. The Jedi were the defenders of life, of those who didn't have their powers; it was their duty to fight." 

"Who asked them to?" she wondered out loud. As someone who might have once identified herself as powerless, she wasn't certain she would have liked it if some stranger with a laser sword had fought her battles for her. 

"If you could ask them, they'd probably tell you the Force did." Ben cocked his head, looking at her. "Funny that you would say that, though: it was pretty much how my uncle felt about it in the end. The Jedi took too much on themselves, as defenders of the galaxy, and that hubris was their downfall." 

"Yeah, he mentioned that to me too. That they were too prideful, basically. I don't think he was wrong, either." she shrugged. "Still, I guess I understand the intrinsic need to defend people you think can't defend themselves." The memory of the Lanai and Luke's somewhat cruel little trick still made her face heat with embarrassment and anger. 

"That you think can't defend themselves is the point, I believe," he pointed out. "It's the arrogance of thinking one has the complete picture, when really it's only one certain point of view." 

"Well, none of us can ever have a complete picture. So, we have to work with what we know," she shrugged. 

"My uncle used to say something along those lines; that we inevitably base our truths on our subjective points of view." 

"Well, yeah... that seems like common sense, but again... I don't know much about philosophy," she shrugged, turning a few more pages. "But, what's this Sith prophecy? About a dyad?" 

"Because the Sith defined themselves by their power to take life, and the desire to dominate and possess all around them, they not only faced the Jedi as enemies, but were nearly exterminated from within their own ranks by greed and in-fighting. In fact, after the last battle over a thousand years ago, there was a sole Sith survivor, Darth Bane. He created the Sith Rule of Two, in order to keep their Order secret and rebuild: 'Two there ever shall be; no more, no less: one the master, the other the apprentice' is usually how it's translated, but it's more accurate to say 'one to embody the power; the other to crave it'. The problem with that is the inevitable conflict that arises between them; in fact, it's a tradition that the apprentice will always slay their master, to replace them." "Visions and prophecies aren't unusual among Force-sensitives; it's actually one of the defining characteristics of being one. The Jedi had prophecies, and so did the Sith. For the Jedi, there was the prophecy of the Chosen One. For the Sith, it was the prophecy of the Dyad. 

"Like most Force visions, the translation is subject to interpretation... or misinterpretation. 'At the awakening, the power of two that are one will rise, the Sith Eternal will rule all, and there will be peace.' It's pretty garbled, and could be translated in several different ways, with different details." 

"But.. the Sith Eternal are now all dead. And we're still here?" she frowned. "Someone must have gotten that one wrong..." 

"Well, that's the problem with seeing the future; it's constantly changing, so it can become something completely different. Depending on your point of view." Ben smiled at that, setting down the text he was holding. "We should be coming up on Tatooine soon; there'll be more time for discussions later." 

"Where are we heading on Tatooine? Mos Eisley?" she asked. She knew Luke had grown up on Tatooine of course, and the whole story about Jabba the Hutt, but she wasn't entirely sure where in the vast sands they were going. 

Ben grinned, looking very much like his father. "Tempting, but docking at Mos Espa would probably be a better idea. I thought we should just fly directly to the Jundland Wastes; there's plenty of space to land by the Western Dune Sea." 

"I have no frame of reference for anything you just said," she smiled, laughing. "We'll be driving over a lot of hot sand. That's really all you needed to say. I think I can handle that reasonably well," she winked. 

"The whole planet is sand," Ben argued," and rock. And there wasn't a question that you can handle any of it reasonably well, sweetheart." The proximity alarm went off. Ben stacked the books in a tidy pile as he got up, storing them away in their bin. 

Rey followed, settling into the co-pilot's chair and waiting for Ben to take his place in the pilot's chair. Together, they pulled out of hyperspace. She immediately wrinkled her nose at the sight of Tatooine down below. "That looks... exactly like Jakku," she said with no small measure of distaste. 

"It's more populated than Jakku, and the locals aren't friendly," Ben warned, mentally checking to be sure his blaster and lightsaber were clipped on his belt. He punched in the landing coordinates. 

"Locals aren't friendly anywhere in the Outer Rim," she reminded him tartly, though she did the same with her blaster and Leia's saber. "This should be interesting. When was the last time you had to walk on sand?" It sounded silly, but there was no denying that there was a certain art to walking on sand; one that she had mastered years ago. 

"When I was on Pasaana." 

"That was packed sand. Different animal entirely. This looks like the same loose stuff that Jakku was coated with." She frowned a bit. "We'll have to be on the lookout for sinking fields if we're on foot. I don't fancy going through that ever again." 

"We're not landing on the Dune Sea itself; where we are going is located on the edge of it, on a rock outcropping. We'll be fine." 

"Where are we going? Where Luke grew up?" she asked as they settled the Falcon down, the old ship creaking on hastily repaired landing gear. 

"Near there; we're going to Obi-Wan Kenobi's home." 

"Kenobi... you mean Ben Kenobi, the man you were named after?" 

"Yes, the one I'm named after." Powering down the Falcon, he exited the cockpit. 

"I don't know much about him... other than he was Luke's master and apparently Anakin's too?" It came out as a question since she wasn't entirely sure. Luke had been very cagey about any questioning along these lines. 

Ben nodded. "He also served with Anakin in during the Clone Wars, and was instrumental in smuggling my mother and uncle away from the Empire. He went into exile, and watched over Luke here on Tatooine, from a distance. The Lars homestead - the moisture farm where Luke grew up - is just about one-hundred and fifty klicks from here." 

"We should visit there too at some point. Seems right." she said, thinking of the graves of her own parents, lost forever in the sands of Jakku. She'd never be able to stand over them and apologize for believing that they had abandoned her with no thought. But Luke's lost family still had a place they could find. 

Exiting the Falcon, Ben stared out across the rocky sand drifts. "We will," he promised, taking her hand as they walked toward a squat little domed building that looked long deserted. 

Something about the hot wind blowing through her hair made her almost immediately revert back into the semi-feral scavenger girl she been just over a year ago. Ben's hand in hers, however, kept her from tumbling backwards in time fully. With a small smile to herself, she remembered how she had been so irritated by Finn continually grabbing her hand when they'd first met. 

She squeezed Ben's hand, knowing he could tell where her thoughts had drifted, silently reminding him that they had taken each other's hands with little to no hesitation. She walked ever so slightly ahead of him, able to pick out the hovel and where its entrance was based on the patterns in the sand. Like most dwellings on desert planets it was set into a high-walled depression in the sand, creating an artificial valley to protect the house during sand storms to avoid casual detection from enemies. On Jakku, enemies mostly consisted of the Teedo and the occasional, more violent scavenger. Here on Tatooine, it was more likely to throw off Hutt thugs, Sand People, and maybe the bolder and more desperate Jawas. 

She found a flat piece of debris, big enough for her to sit on. Letting go of Ben's hand, she picked it up and used it to slide down the sand dune that had formed. Once at the bottom, she turned and tossed the makeshift sled back up to Ben. "It's easier than trying to walk down in shifting sand. Getting out might still be a bit of an adventure though," she explained. 

Once he had joined her, they picked their way into the house. Sand and dust covered everything and it looked as though no one had set a single foot inside since Luke had left it several decades ago. For a second, she thought they'd come out here for no reason. How could there be anything useful for them here? Surely anything of value would have been stolen years ago or taken by Luke. But underneath the sight of nothing, there a tremulous energy, so faint and weak that she almost thought she imagined it. 

"Do you feel that?" she asked, reaching for his hand with one of hers and reaching to other one out, as though the physically touch the feeling in the air. "There is something here... but it's hidden... protected?" 

Ben nodded. "That's why I brought you here." He closed his eyes. "Listen, sense it..." He let her hand go, urging her to search around the decrepit hut. Typical of such a dwelling, there was more than one level, including rooms beneath the main floor, usually reserved for storage or utility, and with practically no natural light at all. "Can you hear them?" 

"Hear them..." she echoed, closing her eyes. She could hear something, something wholly different from the patter of disturbed sand and the wind outside, something that was both internal and external at the same time. "Below us" she said, quickly finding the packed sand stairs leading down. 

Giving her the lead, Ben trailed down after her, testing the old lamps illuminating the way down. Their glow was dim but steady, revealing a workspace and storage area. 

This all looked very similar to her own poor living space on Jakku, right down to the work bench and water storage units. "It's stronger this way," she said, almost more to herself than to him. "It's... singing?" 

"Yes," Ben affirmed softly. The Force had guided them there, and he knew Rey would find what they needed, as he had decades ago, when Luke first took him on as a Jedi padawan. 

She closed her eyes again, reaching out both physically and metaphysically. There may have been no reason for her to actually stick her hand out, but she found it useful as a sort of focus. A few tentative steps later, she opened her eyes and found herself facing one of the vaporators, one that looked broken by all accounts, rusted and cracked. Even if a very brave scavenger had come down her to strip the place, they would have left this as utter junk. She narrowed her eyes, the sound was louder inside of it, echoing in the empty chamber. On impulse, she pulled at the cracked edges, both with her hands and with the Force, peeling it open like rind fruit. Inside, just barely visible in the dim light, lay a small chest. Wooden, unadorned... like something a child would have kept trinkets in. She'd had one very similar on Jakku, equally hidden. The sounds she could hear grew louder, but without building to unbearable levels. 

Taking the chest out, she sat on the ground, hands hovering over where it now rested on her lap. She swallowed hard and opened it. Inside, a small collection of crystals gleamed at her. They ranged in size from no bigger the than tip of her pinkie finger up to the length and breadth of Ben's thumb, but all were clear as diamonds and polished to an almost mirror-like sheen. 

Both Ben and Rey were aware that the singing sound coming from the crystals were only audible through the Force, but it still seemed to resonate around the room, humming in the little box. He sank down, cross legged, in front of Rey, observing. This was part of Rey's journey, as he had seen. 

She blinked, licking her lips. "Kyber crystals..." she whispered, looking up at him. "These are kyber crystals... for lightsabers." 

Ben smiled, nodding. 

Two in particular seemed to call to her, a pair that were not only the same size, but looked identical in the way they'd been cut. "You mean for us to make new lightsabers for ourselves," she said, looking up at him. 

"You can feel it," Ben encouraged her, holding her gaze. "Choose." 

She picked up the two that seemed loudest to her. "These two... I could make a saber staff, couldn't I?" she asked, already planning it in her head. She could use parts of her staff to make a casing since it was already worn into her grip. 

"You certainly could," Ben affirmed. He held a hand, palm down, over the box, closing his eyes. He was motionless for a long moment before gently plucking a single larger crystal from the remaining shards. 

She smiled slightly. "Will you use the cross-saber design again?" she asked. His previous saber had required the cross guard to vent the cracked and unstable crystal, which he'd broken while "bleeding" it. 

Again, he nodded an affirmative. "It suits me." The hilt probably would be quite different; the venting would not be as vital for maintaining the weapon's integrity, since the crystal should be intact and stable, but he enjoyed the cross-bars and overall weight and shape of the cross saber. 

"You should use the work bench. You're tall and will be able to lean on it. I'm used to hunching over something while sitting on the floor," she suggested. 

He laughed, amused. "I spent most of my training sitting on the floor, but I appreciate your concern." The kyber crystal glinted on his open palm, catching the warm light of the lamps. 

"You were not this tall during most of your training," she pointed out, feigning an inability to touch the top of his head. 

"Point taken." 

She smiled and tugged him down for a quick kiss. "I'll go get some tools from the Falcon; be right back. See if you can find anything lying about that might help." 

Ben rose and rifled through some of the junk piled around the room. "There was a toolkit in one of the compartments around here," he murmured. 

Rey headed outside, doing an unnecessarily flashy jump to get out of the ditch and back up to the Falcon. Once inside, she informed Chewie and the droids of what they were up to while she grabbed her tools and her staff. "You three stay here out of the sand, okay?" she said, kneeling down pat little D-O on the head. 

Ben had emerged from the basement and was seated in the empty bed alcove, deep in meditation, when Rey returned. He looked almost serene like that; younger, perhaps, but more accurately, he was ageless. He wasn't levitating, although she had seen him do that; it was mesmerizing to watch how the Force flowed around and through him with sparks and streams of metaphysical light. He was focusing on the kyber crystal floating in front of him, creating a kind of harmony in the Force. 

She smiled as she passed by him, trying her best to not disrupt him. She slipped back down to the darkness of the storage space, finding the contained nature of it comforting. She sat cross-legged on floor, clutching her two crystals, one in each hand. She probably should meditate on them the way Ben was, but she found she was more inclined to start work on the more physical aspects, namely the pommel. 

She had taken her staff apart and fiddled with bits of it to make a suitable hilt. It would have to be longer than the hilts of either Luke or Leia’s sabers if she intended to use it as a staff. When she’d repaired Luke’s saber, it had been a matter of getting back to how it had been before. Making something new from scratch was a bit of a novel idea. 

In her hands, the two crystals all but vibrated. ‘Excited, too?’ she wondered with a small smile. "All right, all right, calm down," she whispered to them, as though she was trying to calm a small animal rather than a set of crystals. With nimble fingers, she disassembled her staff, setting aside the bits she wanted to use. Hours passed in something of a blur, her focus spent entirely on what she was doing. There could have been an impromptu battle outside and she might not have noticed. 

Ben waited on the ridge above Kenobi's home, watching the twin suns slowly descend across the distant horizon. He had begun the process of building a new lightsaber by communing with the shard of kyber crystal but had paused, letting it quiet in his hand. There were plenty of places he could have sought out another crystal, but he had seen that this was the place for Rey to find hers and build her own saber. 

Rey soon joined him, sliding her hand into his as she reached his side. "Needed a bit of a break," she explained, leaning her head on his shoulder. There was a certain gentle peace over both of them, aided by the golden light bathing them. 

"It's a process," Ben observed quietly. Rey's presence next to him was reassuring; it was a feeling of tranquility to which he was quickly becoming accustomed. 

"How's yours going?" she asked, letting go of his hand only so she could wind his arm around her, her own arm around his waist. 

He settled his arm on her comfortably. "So far, so good. It wants to commune at the moment, rather than be fitted in a housing; it will happen, in time. And you?" 

"I think mine are going to vibrate right out of my hands and insert themselves into the casing if I don't do it fast enough." She laughed softly. "Figures. You have the patient one and I've got caffeinated crystals." 

Ben laughed. "Balance," he mused. "Even with the kyber." He gave her a small reassuring hug. As much as it resembled Jakku or Pasaana, there was something about Tatooine that felt more like home. Maybe it was just this place and its history to his family that made it so, but it was comfortable to him. He had never met the Jedi for whom he was named, but he sensed a sort of kinship with Obi-Wan Kenobi, an echo of the Jedi legacy passed down through the generations. Truthfully, Rey was the true heir to the Jedi way, not him: he was parallel to her, a reflection in a way. Part of a single whole; a balance. He was content with that. 

"What do we do with the other crystals?" she wondered aloud. "Should we take them with us when we leave or... leave them here for future Force-sensitives to find?" 

"I suppose a lot will depend on what we do in the future," Ben remarked. "We don't need to decide that now, though." 

She curled closer to him, seeking his warmth as the suns drifted lower, taking the heat with them. "Think our crystals will mind if we call it a night and get some sleep? I didn't realize this process would be so exhausting." 

He hugged her shoulder, kissing the top of her head gently. "Come on," he said, leading her back toward the Falcon. 

Their hands still entwined; she fell in step beside him, glad that he had learned to shorten his stride to match hers. Otherwise, he would have reached the Falcon in half the time and she would have had to run to keep up. Running in sand was not a favorite activity of hers. Once inside with the cargo doors shut, she breathed in the cool air. "I am never going to miss the heat of places like Jakku and Tatooine," she commented. 

"We can change it, you know," Ben mentioned. "Turn all that sand, dirt and rock into green and growing things." 

"There's planets that are already green and growing. I think it's best to let planetary climates be. I loved Takodana.... and Ahch-To was lovely, if a bit isolated. I wouldn't mind paying a visit to the forest moon of Endor," she said, taking his hand and tugging him towards the galley. She was tired, but she was also hungry and there were few things she enjoyed more than watching Ben make food. 

Ben smiled to himself. "Endor," he remarked. "Endor is beautiful, and very green. You're right, though; it's better to leave a planet’s climate alone." He went to the galley and began rummaging through their supplies. Of all of his odd hobbies, food preparation was one of the most satisfying for him, especially with the addition of Rey's enthusiastic appreciation of the results. 

Ben's gathering of materials was almost a dance: vegetables, bread, cheese, condiments, herbs, spices neatly lined up on the counter; utensils and receptacles laid out and set up. The careful measuring and rhythmic chopping, the slow rise of steam from the cooker, the sizzle of melting fat and scent of toasting bread made for a full sensory experience with Rey as the rapt audience. 

Rey sat down at the narrow counter, watching him with rapt eyes. There was an undeniable grace to him when he focused on chopping ingredients and mixing things together. To Rey, whose sole kitchen craft was adding water to instant bread, all of his skills may as well have been alchemy. She grinned, watching him with bright eyes. Hunger for food and hunger for the man making it were very entwined in that moment. She had to remind herself that if she distracted him from cooking with less innocent endeavors, then the food might suffer and she was not about to let that happen. She could be good and wait until after they’d eaten to inexpertly seduce Ben Solo to bed. 

Ben grinned, mid-stir. He glanced at her over his shoulder, eyes twinkling. "I can feel that, you know," he commented. "I admire your restraint. Don't worry, it's almost done." 

Rey let out her breath in an exasperated sigh. “Are we to have no private thoughts from each other?” she asked, although she was mostly teasing. “Not my fault that you are diabolically handsome in the kitchen. And in the bedroom. And in the cockpit. Just everywhere, really,” she laughed, enjoyed the blush that spread on his high cheekbones. 

He laughed outright at that. "You're broadcasting," he pointed out, sliding the sandwiches onto plates and ladling the soup into mugs. He handed hers to her and took up his own, taking up his spot next to her. 

“Is it turning you on?” she asked tartly, eyes staying on him as she sipped from the mug, expression as neutral as she could possibly make it. 

He fixed her with his particularly intense look and lopsided smirk that made him look so much like his father. "How's the food?" he countered. 

“Excellent, as always, Master Solo. Answer the question.” She affected Threepio’s clipped accent as well as his form of address for Ben. 

"I just did," he laughed. "Think I cook like this all the time?" 

“You have every time you cook for me - oohhh...” she blushed at the dawning realization that apparently cooking for her was another way for Ben to flirt with her. 

Ben chuckled as he ate his sandwich, but he couldn't prevent blushing further. 

“Hey, don’t shield from me!” she laughed, flicking her fingers against his arm. “Not fair that you know all my thoughts and feelings, but you hide yours from me!” she laughed. “Come on, what’s making you blush?” 

Ben shrugged, blowing on the broth to cool it. "I just like cooking, especially for you," he murmured. 

“Somehow I do not believe that cooking for me makes you blush,” she poked at him before taking a bite of the toasted sandwich he’d made for her. Butter, cheese, bread... so simple, but she could help but express her enjoyment somewhat vocally. 

Ben's blush deepened to a rosy red, but he ate quickly, almost casually. He enjoyed cooking in general, but specifically cooking for Rey because of her appreciation of it; it was rapidly becoming a sign of affection between them, and he had to admit that her reaction pleased him. 

Rey pretty much lacked any form of proper table manners, so licking butter from her fingers was just common sense for her. When she found Ben looking at her with those dark eyes, however, she blushed as well, slowly rubbing her thumb over her bottom lip. “Uh... it’s delicious.” 

_Yes, it is_ , came his thought, completely unshielded; it was obvious that he wasn't referring only to the food. Finishing his soup, he rose to set aside his dishes. He was more experienced at shielding his thoughts and feelings, but the open nature of the dyad was one they both were easing into, at least in how they expressed it on a regular basis. 

Her blush deepened, though her eyes sparkled knowingly. “Ahem... so, shall we... retire?” It wasn’t really a question; she knew that he had every intention of following her into their quarters. What they might do once the door closed behind them... well, that remained to be seen. 

"Don't want to watch the moons rise?" Ben teased. "I'm sure Chewie will have a good campfire going." 

“They’ll rise again tomorrow night too. Assuming we let Chewie cook tomorrow, we can watch it then,” she smirked at him. “Don’t make me Force push you into the bedroom, Your Highness,” she gave him a mock-curtsey. 

Ben shook his head, bemused. Although he technically was royalty from both Naboo and Alderaan, he was far more comfortable with his common roots. He certainly wasn't going to point out that Rey was, at least through genetics, heir to the Empire. Besides, that would only be a distraction. He rushed at her and swept her up in his arms instead. 

She gave a token yelp of surprise as he scooped her up, laughing and kicking her feet playfully. "Well, then... I guess you aren't going to be swayed by a moon rise either?" 

"Nope!" he declared cheerfully, carrying her through the corridors of the Falcon to their quarters. 

Once in their rooms, she closed the door behind them, biting her lip and smiling. "So... what nefarious plans do you have for me now that you have seduced me with nutrition?" 

Ben set her on her feet, stripping off his shirt in one smooth move as he strode toward the bed. "How 'bout some dessert?" 

She licked her lips, looking at him speculatively. "Mmm... I think that can be arranged. But I think I might need to be on my knees for that," she reminded him, assuming he meant that he wanted her to use her mouth on him. 

"Tsk," he scolded, shedding the rest of his clothes with the same ease. "Think you're the only one who's hungry?" 

"Beg your pardon?" she frowned, not quite following what he meant, though she could possibly blame that on how her brain tended to stop whenever he undressed in front of her. He was just so... big. Not just his cock, although that part of him was in keeping with the rest of him. But his shoulders, his chest, his arms, his height... everything about him was big. 

With a gentleness belying his size, Ben began to unwind the many wraps of Rey's garments, kissing points of exposed skin as he went. When she was completely undressed her lifted her up again, setting her down on the bed and hovering over her, between her open legs, continuing his onslaught of kisses over her prone body. 

Any further questioning thoughts scattered under this gentle assault, meeting his kisses and caresses with soft moans, her hands tangling in his thick hair. "Ben..." she mewled his name in a warm, tender voice. She wanted to kiss him back, but he was out of her reach for that and apparently planned on staying that way for the time being. An image popped into her head, not her own idea, but his... of him using his mouth to please her in more intimate terms. She gave a small cry of surprise, cheeks heating. It had never once occurred to her that men did that at all, let alone to someone like her. 

The possibility was confirmed as Ben trailed lower, kneeling and cradling her from beneath, lifting her hips up. He urged her to open her legs wider as he peppered her thighs with more kisses, urgent humming gasps punctuating each touch of his lips. 

Her legs tensed with the sudden urge to do just the opposite and she shifted slightly so she could lean on her elbows and look down at him. "Ben...?" she panted his name softly. "Are you sure? You don't have to-" she was cut off by her own startled cry as he leaned in and slid his tongue over her folds. 

With a hungry gasp, he continued to explore her with his mouth, licking and kissing in turns around the entire area. His hands gripped her, spanning her hips, holding her up to him to increase his focus. 

Rey had never felt anything like this. Ben's mouth was wholly different from his fingers or his cock; his tongue was softer, more flexible... and every sound he uttered seemed to vibrate right to her core. For her part, she gasped and keened, one hand fisting the sheets beneath her, the other shakily buried in his hair. 

His lips sealed over her in a novel kiss, tongue probing deep within her, then lapping down and up, finding the hard spot at the apex. He concentrated on it with avid sucking and licking, releasing his hold to allow her to press up toward him with increasing fervor. 

Her hips trembled, thrusting up against him eagerly now that they could. "Ben...!" His name came out in a sobbing cry. "Ben, please... please..." What she was pleading for, even she didn't quite know. More? Less? Both, somehow? Ah, she knew... the only thing lacking was something inside of her. She was so close, but her body wanted to squeeze around him, to pull him along with her. 

Hard strokes swept across her inner thighs, with the press of his fingers against her opening as he continued his outer stimulation. The digits slid inside her, first one then another joining the first, back and forth, slowly at first then quickening. He began to pant and groan in response to her increasing pleasure, their shared bond feeding off of each other's lust. 

"Ben," she half-strangled out his name. The curl of his fingers inside of her made her gasp, hips snapping up harder than she intended. She didn't have the luxury of dwelling on it as Ben drew her over into shattering completion. Everything in the universe condensed down to them and them alone, two that were one. 

Ben drew back his head, surfacing with a gasp. His hands he held still, gripped by Rey from the inside. He could barely tell where she began and he ended in physical space. Her scent surrounded him, the taste of her like musk and salt and an underlying sweetness lingering like an ocean tide. 

"Ben," she gasped his name, chest still heaving for breath as she pulled him up, needing to kiss him. The taste of herself on his lips made her insides twist eagerly again, despite the pleasure still thrumming through her. 

"Rey..." he groaned between kisses, his fingers retreating at last. He gripped himself with one hand as he flopped down on his back next to her. His whole body crackled with electric pulses of shared pleasure. 

She followed his motion, rolling over to straddle him, reaching down to replace his hand with her own, guiding him inside of her. She let out a long breath as the length of him slid in deep, filling her so completely that she almost came again right then and there. 

Immediately Ben grasped her hips, thrusting up hard and fast, grunting and shaking with the effort. Energy snapped and sparked across their joined bodies, spiraling through the Force like a field of storms. In turn, she rode him hard, meeting each thrust in time. She leaned forward, bracing herself on his chest, relishing every sensation running through her roughshod. She could feel him drawing close, he just needed a tiny bit more. She met his eyes, licking her lips. "Cum for me, Ben... I want you to cum in me." she whispered to him, voice low and husky. 

Her command released all his control; his body tensed and crashed into her, bursting in explosive waves like a supernova as a triumphant roar tore loose from his throat. 

She arched her back, letting her body tighten around him, prolonging both of their completions, drawing the pleasure out for as long as they could tolerate it. Only when their heartbeats calmed enough to let them hear anything else, she folded herself back over his chest, pressing a kiss right over his heart. "I love you," she whispered, knowing full well that he was aware of the sentiment, but needing to vocalize it anyway. 

Ben just nodded, splayed out across the bed mat like a rug, depleted but euphoric. One arm rose up, then the other, and he enfolded Rey in a loose embrace. "I love you, too," he whispered hoarsely. 

She curled against him, her face tucked against his neck. The blanket draped over them, although she couldn't say for certain whether Ben had used the Force to do it or his actual hand. "Mmm," she purred softly, cuddling closer to him, if such a thing were possible. 

Ben curled around her, cradling them together in a kind of nest, as they drifted into a dreamless, contented sleep.


End file.
